Modern control units, in particular for engine control, include a computer core (microcontroller) and a peripheral chip set for implementation of the required hardware functions. This peripheral chip set typically includes various application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and other electronic modules. Distribution of the required hardware functions among the various ASICs and modules is referred to as partitioning.
A peripheral chip set of the engine control unit generation according to the related art typically has partitioning that includes two ASICs.
A first ASIC (ASIC 1) is provided here and has the following components: a power supply (on-off controller, which may also be configured as a linear controller) having four different output voltages; three 5-V sensor power supplies, two of which may also be configured for 3.3-V output voltage independently of one another, the sensor power supplies being diagnosable for short-circuit to ground and short-circuit to battery voltage; a monitoring module; a driver for bidirectional interfaces; a CAN driver having a wake-up functionality; a follower control; a main relay output stage featuring a diagnostic function for fault cases, i.e., short-circuit to battery voltage, short-circuit to ground, a drop in load and overheating; a stop counter and a bidirectional serial interface (SPI) for communication with the microcontroller.
A second ASIC (ASIC 2) has the following components: power output stages having a nominal current from 1.1 A to 3 A; a diagnostic function for fault cases, i.e., short-circuit to battery voltage, short-circuit to ground, a drop in load and overheating; 5-V supply voltage monitoring; a bidirectional serial interface for communication with the microcontroller and a unidirectional serial interface (μs bus) for controlling the output stages.
German Published Patent Application No. 10 34 014 describes a peripheral chip set in which the basic functionality of a control unit is partitioned between two ASICs as described above. Depending on the requirements of the hardware functions, additional modules may be necessary.
However, the hardware functions indicated above are only partially required for production of engine control units of the basic segment (control unit segment having the most essential functions). This means that today's peripheral chip sets are “oversized” from the standpoint of the required (circuit board) area as well as cost factors.